By now, you’re sure to have heard of Elon Musk’s remote-friendly satellite internet service. Most know it as Starlink. However, it’s still relatively new to the market. Since the price tag isn’t insignificant, many wonder whether jumping in is really worth it. I’m here to break down the pros and cons that we’ve noticed along the way in this Starlink internet review. This post contains affiliate links which may lead to a commission if purchased. Thanks for your support!
Types Of Starlink
Currently, there are a few different types of Starlink listed as available on their website. Here is what is currently showing as available on the Starlink website.
For most of this post, I’ll only be discussing Starlink Residential. I’ll touch briefly on Roam, as well.
First, I’ll go over the pros to Starlink internet that I’ve noticed so far. Next, I’ll discuss the cons we’ve experienced. Finally, I’ll tell you whether, in my opinion, Starlink Residential internet service is “worth it”.
Starlink Internet Pros
1. Internet Speed
When compared to other satellite service, Starlink blows the competition out of the water. Our Starlink internet speeds read just as high as the numbers we were getting with traditional fiber internet a few towns away. In addition, it’s way faster than the speeds we were getting on old-school satellite before Starlink became available in our area. We are able to work, video chat, game… really, do anything we want or need to do on the internet, with essentially no difference than the experience we had on fiber. That’s a massive win.
2. Reliable
With Starlink residential, we haven’t had any issues with service dropping in and out during bad weather. Similarly, we haven’t experienced drops in speed during times of “peak usage”, like in the evening. We’ve found Starlink to be completely reliable where we are. I have heard of others experiencing temporary outages due to weather, but we have yet to see it happen ourselves.
3. Aesthetically Pleasing
I know a lot of people won’t care much about this, but many of us do. Starlink branding is on-point, and the hardware looks awesome. No more ugly satellite dishes in the yard or on the roof. The hardware actually looks like a sculpture in our yard, and blends in seamlessly with the rest of our house style. Not having an eyesore dish on our home is well-worth noting.
4. Remote Internet Access
Starlink works in the far corners of the planet, and pretty much everywhere in between. This means that high-speed internet is now available wherever Starlink is available. The same previously could not be said for traditional satellite service, which was relatively slow and spotty. While one has to depend on the fiber cable companies to bring fiber internet to their area, Starlink can go just about anywhere.
5. DIY Friendly
If you enjoy DIY like us, you’ll enjoy the DIY aspects of Starlink. The company currently does not send representatives to set up the hardware and get the internet service going. This means you can set it up how you want it done yourself. Some choose to mount the hardware to their roof, others put it on a pole, and still others just set it on the ground. It’s really up to you. Though not a huge part of this Starlink internet review, it’s worth noting.
6. No Long-Term Contracts
I’m so tired of dated business models that use deceptive marketing to trap a customer for years on-end. Cell service, cable, and traditional satellite often require years-long contracts that require the customer to pay a fee in order to stop using their service. One draw of Starlink, to me, was the straightforward agreement and lack of long-term contracts. Not only is it more freeing, but it comes across as more honest, too. No product should have to force a buyer to stay. If a product is good enough, the customer will willingly stay. If the company has to financially threaten a customer to stay… in my opinion, something is wrong.
7. Mobile
We all like to get away now and then. Another pro to Starlink is that one can take the hardware with them while traveling. So, even very remote destinations without internet can offer the same high-speed access as back home. We have done this personally, and entered a few caveats, which I’ll note below.
Starlink Internet Cons
Next, I’ll discuss some of the cons we’ve noticed in this Starlink Internet Review.
1. Information Is Changing Rapidly
Of course, Starlink is a relatively new luxury. One thing I’ve noticed while trying to research and troubleshoot is that information about Starlink is changing rapidly. Anything you read on the internet or talk to your neighbors about may already be dated. It’s important to go straight to the Starlink website for the most updated information. However, if you’re trying to access information that’s not directly from the company itself, even if it was true once, it may not be true anymore.
2. DIY Required
Like I mentioned before, DIY is a big part of setting up Starlink service. While some handymen and other similar pros may start offering services to get it going, since it’s so new, there’s not much out there yet. So if you’re not comfortable with DIY and you don’t know of anyone who can help, you might get frustrated quickly.
3. You’ll Need Some Open Sky
We found this out the hard way when we brought our Starlink up north and found it wouldn’t work. The culprits were the (beautiful!) dense pines around us. Since we were only there for a few days, it wasn’t worth scaling the trees and rigging a setup for sky access. If you’re setting up in a more permanent location, you’ll probably be able to figure out sky access. However, if you’re headed somewhere temporarily like we were, it might be more trouble than it’s worth.
4. Roam/Residential Switching Is A Little Clunky
This is what we learned when we tried to switch back and forth for vacation. Between billing cycle issues and a risk we couldn’t switch back to Residential at all, there were more surprises than we’d like. I go into it all in this video. If you’re not really interested in swapping between Roam and Residential, you probably won’t have to worry about this too much. This isn’t the most important consideration for a Starlink Internet Review, but we’d like for others to be aware of the possible outcomes.
5. Starlink Might Not Be Available In Your Area
We actually waited about 3 years for Starlink to become available in our area. So naturally, we were ecstatic when it did! However, during those years of waiting, the website kept telling us that it would be available in roughly a year or less. So take those estimations with a grain of salt. You can get on the Starlink waitlist if it’s not in your area, but it currently does require a $99 deposit just to get on the waitlist. We know other people who were on the waitlist, and even though we weren’t, it ended up becoming available for all of us at the same time.
6. High Startup Cost
Perhaps the greatest obstacle in acquiring Starlink internet is the high startup cost. Prices can always change, but we paid about $600 in hardware costs, in addition to the $120/month service fee. This is a little different than then industry standard, which offers more of a “lease” approach. Especially when you consider that the Starlink hardware (currently) can’t be returned for a refund if you switch to fiber in the future, that’s a hefty chunk of change.
7. May Be Expensive Depending On Your Area
The price of Starlink Residential can vary depending on where you live. Depending on what else is available in your area for internet, Starlink may be more or less “worth it”. For example, if you have access to fiber internet, high speeds from Starlink will likely be much more expensive. However, if you’re like us and your only other options are “traditional” satellite, companies, Starlink may very well get you higher speeds, more reliability, and have a lower price tag, as well.
8. No Customer Service Number
Finally, one thing that many people complain about is the fact that Starlink does not currently have a customer service number. For such a large company, this can be a bit of a shock. So far, it hasn’t been an issue for me. First of all, we haven’t had any reason to need to contact Starlink customer service as of yet. But in addition, I’ve found many customer service lines to be not much more than a repeat of FAQ sections on the website. But while it hasn’t been an issue for us, I know it has been a source fo frustration for some other people.
Starlink Internet Review Conclusion: Is It Worth It?
In this Starlink Internet review summary, we have found Starlink to be well-worth purchasing. Despite the cons, the blazing-fast speed and great reliability outweighs them all. It’s important to remember that we live in an area where traditional satellite is our only other option. Having used traditional satellite companies before, we will do just about anything to avoid them ever again. We’ve found Starlink to be much, much better. However, if you have fiber internet, you may have a tougher time deciding whether Starlink is worth it.
Do you have Starlink? What has your experience been?
If you want a lot less aggravation and a lot more surfing, Starlink is the way to go. My Starlink went down for about 45 minutes the other day and after it came back, up when checking downdetector and a few other similar sites, the user comments were about how seldom it happened and how much better off they are with Starlink than they were before.
As far as a phone number for customer service goes, I didn’t realize there was not one because I’ve never had a problem that was not simple to solve(that is if I’ve had a problem, I can’t remember).